NEW YORK (CNNfn) - DuPont Co. said Wednesday weak results in its polyester and crop protection businesses contributed to second-quarter earnings that fell below Wall Street estimates.
The chemical giant reported earnings of $959 million, or 83 cents a diluted share, 4 cents below First Call estimates of 87 cents a share. Sales totaled $11.1 billion for the quarter.
A year earlier, DuPont earned $1.1 billion, or 99 cents a share, on sales of $11.4 billion.
"Business conditions in the first half have been some of the most difficult that we have experienced in recent years," said Charles Holliday, DuPont president and chief executive officer.
"The effects of lower oil prices on Conoco, interest expense from acquisitions, and weaker performance in our polyester and crop protection businesses were not sufficiently offset by a strong performance in white pigments and nylon."
In May, DuPont announced it was spinning off up to 20 percent of its Conoco Inc. subsidiary in the first step of a planned divestiture of the entire energy firm.
For the first half,, DuPont posted a $1.87 billion profit, or $1.62 a share, on $22.1 billion in sales, compared with earnings of $2.16 billion, or $1.88 a share, on $22.6 billion in sales a year ago.
Holliday also warned that DuPont expects third-quarter results to decline on a year-to-year basis.
"We expect the challenges we faced in the second quarter to continue, exacerbated by slowing volumes from the growing effects of the General Motors strike and the Asian financial crisis," Holliday said.
DuPont (DD) shares fell 1/8 to 66-1/2 in early Wednesday trading.